1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recliner adjuster attached to, for example, an automobile seat for appropriately adjusting an inclination of a seat back with respect to a seat cushion.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional recliner adjuster interposed between a seat cushion and a seat back includes a base member secured to the seat cushion, a rotary arm secured to the seat back and rotatably supported by the base member, a lock mechanism for locking the rotation of the rotary arm, and an operating lever for releasing the locking by the lock mechanism. A ring member is provided at an outer peripheral portion of the base member to hold the rotary arm.
The ring member has a collar formed at an outer peripheral edge thereof, which is caulked to rotatably hold the rotary arm within the base member (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
A recliner adjuster having a memory mechanism, which acts to return the seat back to an original inclination after it has been once set to a predetermined angle (the original inclination) and subsequently inclined forwardly, has been proposed. This recliner adjuster includes a reclining mechanism disposed on one side of a guide bracket and a memory mechanism disposed on the other side of the guide bracket. The reclining mechanism and the memory mechanism are assembled together by caulking a mounting ring disposed on one side of the memory mechanism remote from the reclining mechanism to a fixing plate constituting the reclining mechanism (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-333758
Japanese Patent No. 2653768
In the recliner adjuster as disclosed in Patent Document 1 referred to above, because the base member and the rotary arm are held together by caulking a portion of the ring member with the rotary arm received in the base member, the outer diameter of the base member inevitably increases and, hence, it is difficult to reduce the size thereof while maintaining a predetermined locking strength to reduce the weight and manufacturing cost of the recliner adjuster.
In the case of the recliner adjuster as disclosed in Patent Document 2, the mounting ring must be mounted on both the reclining mechanism and the memory mechanism with a predetermined minimum clearance provided therebetween, and this cannot be easily accomplished by the caulking.